BEING a frequent traveller, Ja-nardhanan Mohandas Rajan Pillai must have felt at home in one part of Changi, on the eastern fringes of Singapore-the swank airport which links the city-state with the rest of the world. But on April 10, he faced the prospect of spending up to 14 years in an unfamiliar part of Changi-the onetime notorious prison.

That fateful Monday last fortnight, District Judge Low Wee Ping agreed with Singapore prosecutors from the Commercial Affairs Department, Hamidul Haq and Mohammed Nizam Ismail, that Pillai, the former chairman of Britannia Industries Private Limited (bipl), was guilty on 2 3 counts of criminal breach of trust and one count of cheating. The decision capped a dramatic trial spread over 6 5 hearings-one of the longest in Singapore-which saw F. Ross Johnson, the godfather of Pillai's elder son and now Pillai's nemesis, testifying against his former friend. But instead of accepting the sentence, Pillai slipped out of Singapore on April 11.

"I expected justice, but the verdict showed otherwise," he told india today on April 12 from his house in Bombay. His contention: the court was biased and prejudiced. At worst he was expecting a "rap on the knuckles". But the severity of the judgement shocked him enough to flee the country.

Queen's Counsel Alun Jones seemed to uphold this view. Writing to Pillai to explain why he had discharged himself from the defence last August, Jones said: 'Although (Pillai) may be guilty of technical infringements of the Companies Act that had caused no loss to anyone... the unfairness of the trial was such that he was likely to be convicted of serious charges (of criminal breach of trust and cheating)." The trial "violates basic standards of justice", and the "prosecution is... openly controlled by Johnson's lawyers", he added.

In Singapore, the authorities were perplexed. "It's a mystery how he left our jurisdiction," says Haq. Pillai explained that contrary to media reports, he "travelled on a legal document, and cleared Singapore's immigration counters in a normal manner." He had obtained a new passport booklet from the Indian Embassy in Singapore after the additional leaves were used up thrice. All these papers were submitted to the Singapore authorities, who returned the old but valid passport on which he travelled. His wife, Gopika Nina, and two children had left for Bombay a week earlier.

The prosecution's primary charge-based on complaints made by Johnson-was that Pillai authorised bipl to hand over funds to Paragon Corporation, a Liberian company, and Shasta Holdings, a Singapore-registered firm, in which he had an interest; and that he used the money- about $4.69 million-to pay off personal debts. He was also found guilty of criminal breach of trust for using $7.5 million of bipl funds to buy a "worthless" cashew-trading venture. Besides, it was held that he couldn' t disprove accusations of concealing from bipl the fact that it had a Singapore $ 1 option to buy the "Ole" trademark through its subsidiary, Nabisco Brands Singapore, when he sold bipl the trademark for $7.3 3 million.

On the day Pillai left Singapore, Judge Low issued an arrest warrant and sent a show-cause notice to forfeit the US $2.5 million (Rs 8 crore) posted as bail. In India, the Bombay police kept a watch on his Worli Seaface house. "We can act only if there is a request from the Singapore authorities. No such information has come so far," said Bombay Police Commissioner S. Sahney.

Says M.K. Patwardhan, the lawyer who represents the Enforcement Directorate: "Extradition would depend not only on whether the offence was recognised as such in India, but also whether the Singapore Government can provide sufficient evidence to prove that it is of a serious nature." This could take years. For his part, Pillai is ready to put forward all the documents before any authority to show that he was being proceeded against unjustly. Much will depend on how effectively he is able to convince an Indian judge.

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